He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
You'll rescue me, right?
In the exact same way they never did
I'll be happy, right?
When your healing powers kick in
You'll complete me, right?
Then my life can finally begin
I'll be worthy, right?
Only when you realize the gem I am?
But this won't work now, the way it once did
And I won't keep it up even though I would love to
Once I know who I'm not, then I'll know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was defenseless
And parting with them is like parting with invisible best friends
This ring will help me yet, as will you, knight in shining armor
This pill will help me yet, as will these boys gone through like water
But this won't work as well as the way it once did
'Cause I want to decide between survival and bliss
And though I know who I'm not, I still don't know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was a kid
And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend
I've spent so long firmly looking outside me
I've spent so much time living in survival mode
But this won't work now, the way it once did
'Cause I want to decide between survival and bliss
And though I know who I'm not, I still don't know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was defenseless
And parting with them is like parting with an invisible best friend
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was a kid
And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend
In the exact same way they never did
I'll be happy, right?
When your healing powers kick in
You'll complete me, right?
Then my life can finally begin
I'll be worthy, right?
Only when you realize the gem I am?
But this won't work now, the way it once did
And I won't keep it up even though I would love to
Once I know who I'm not, then I'll know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was defenseless
And parting with them is like parting with invisible best friends
This ring will help me yet, as will you, knight in shining armor
This pill will help me yet, as will these boys gone through like water
But this won't work as well as the way it once did
'Cause I want to decide between survival and bliss
And though I know who I'm not, I still don't know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was a kid
And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend
I've spent so long firmly looking outside me
I've spent so much time living in survival mode
But this won't work now, the way it once did
'Cause I want to decide between survival and bliss
And though I know who I'm not, I still don't know who I am
But I know I won't keep on playing the victim
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was defenseless
And parting with them is like parting with an invisible best friend
These precious illusions in my head
Did not let me down when I was a kid
And parting with them is like parting with a childhood best friend
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I adore this and the video is perfect. It's just amazing. I thought hands clean was ok. But this is really really really good. Jagged little pill was the first album I bought and this just brings it all back.